LAURENCE  SOULE  LYNCH 


f  EX  LIBKG  UNIVERSI1Y  OF  CALIFORNIA 


JOHN  HENRY  NASH  LIBRARY 

SAN  FRANCISCO 

PRESENTED  TO  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

ROBERT  GORDON  SPROUL.  PRESIDENT. 


MR.ANDMRS.MILTON  S.RAY 
CECILY,  VIRGINIAANDROSALYN  RAY 


RAY  OIL  BURNER  ODMPANY 


Injfltaoriant: 

LAURENCE  SOULE  LYNCH 

First  Lieutenant "  Q"  Company 

36 2nd  Infantry,  pi"  Division,  United  States  Army 

Born  in  San  Francisco,  June  g,  1888 

Died  in  France,  October  8, 1 918 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED  BY 

JOHN  HENRY  NASH,  SAN  FRANCISCO 

1919 


Reprinted  from  the  COAST  BANKER  of  January, 


SOLDIERS  OF  FREEDOM 

THEY  VEILED   THEIR   SOULS  WITH   LAUGHTER 

AND  MANY  A  MOCKING  POSE, 
THESE  LADS  WHO  FOLLOW  AFTER 

WHEREVER  FREEDOM  GOES; 
THESE  LADS  WE  USED  TO  CENSURE 

FOR  LEVITY  AND  EASE, 
ON  FREEDOM'S  HIGH  ADVENTURE 

GO  SHINING  OVERSEAS. 

OUR  SPRINGING  TEARS  ADORE  THEM, 

THESE  BOYS  AT  SCHOOL  AND  PLAY, 
FAIR-FORTUNED  YEARS  BEFORE  THEM, 

ALAS  !   BUT  YESTERDAY  ; 

DIVINE  WITH  SUDDEN  SPLENDOR  — 
OH,  HOW  OUR  EYES  WERE  BLIND  !  — 

IN  CARELESS  SELF-SURRENDER 
THEY  BATTLE  FOR  MANKIND. 

SOLDIERS  OF  FREEDOM  !  GLEAMING 

AND  GOLDEN,  THEY  DEPART, 
TRANSFIGURED  BY  THE  DREAMING 

OF  BOYHOOD'S  HIDDEN  HEART. 
HER  LOVERS  THEY  CONFESS  THEM 

AND,  RUSHING  ON  HER  FOES, 
TOSS  HER  THEIR  YOUTH  —  GOD  BLESS  THEM  !  - 

AS  LIGHTLY  AS  A  ROSE. 

—  KATHERINE   LEE   BATES. 


LAURENCE  SOULE'  LYNCH 

C'ENANT  LYNCH  was  born  in  San  Francisco,  but 
his  parents  moved  to  Alameda  while  he  was 
a  small  child,  so  in  that  city  he  received  his 
schooling.  He  was  graduated  from  the  high 
school,  and  matriculated  in  the  University  of  California 
with  the  class  of  1910,  where  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Chi  Phi  fraternity,  and  demonstrated  his  talent  for 
making  friends,  a  faculty  which  never  forsook  him. 

A  considerable  part  of  his  boyhood  was  spent  in  the 
country,  as  were  nearly  all  his  vacations,  so  that  he 
learned  to  ride  and  acquired  as  well  the  things  which 
only  the  out-of-doors  can  teach.  The  Alameda  shore 
made  him  a  good  swimmer  and  diver,  and  he  was  equal 
ly  at  home  in  a  boat  or  a  motor  car.  He  had  a  taste 
for  athletics,  and  came  out  of  the  university  well  de 
veloped  up  to  his  seventy-four  inches  of  height. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  half  of  the  junior  year,  he  left 
college  and  went  to  work  with  E.  H.  Rollins  and  Sons, 
Investment  Bankers,  in  whose  service  he  remained 
until  war  was  declared  against  the  German  Empire. 


LAURENCE    SOULfi    LYNCH 

While  with  Rollins  and  Sons,  he  went  through  the 
usual  office  training ;  then  travelled  the  southern  and 
central  parts  of  California  as  salesman.  Later  he  was 
made  City  Salesman,  and,  for  some  years,  called  regu 
larly  on  the  San  Francisco  banks,  thus  making  a  wide 
acquaintance  among  the  California  bankers. 

Always  he  was  distinguished  by  a  quickness  of  mind 
and  an  intuitive  perception  of  the  essential  core  of 
things,  while  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  and  a  gift  for  the 
unexpected,  helped  to  smooth  for  him  the  rough  edges 
of  life. 

On  April  23rd,  1913,  he  was  married  to  Constance 
Van  Brunt,  and  a  son,  Ransom  Van  Brunt  Lynch,  now 
three  years  past,  was  born  to  them. 

So  far,  he  was  just  an  average  young  man  who  took 
life  easily  and  happily,  giving  not  too  much  thought  to 
the  morrow. 

Then  the  war  broke  out  in  1914. 

The  horror  of  that  crime  against  humanity  sank 
deeply  into  his  soul,  and,  as  the  obscene  Boche  poured 
into  Belgium  and  France,  leaving  a  trail  of  murder 
and  ruin  behind  them,  the  iron  in  his  character  chrys- 
tallized  into  a  stern  determination  to  do  his  part  to 
ward  putting  them  down. 

He  was  keenly  aware  of  the  defenseless  position  of 
his  own  Country, and  humiliated  by  the  indifference  of 
so  many  of  his  countrymen.  When  that  singular  rabble 
of  Germans  and  pro-Germans,  pacifists  and  professors, 
editors  and  anarchists,  began  the  campaign  to  turn  the 


LAURENCE    SOULfi    LYNCH 

United  States,  bound  hand  and  foot,  over  to  the  Huns, 
he  entered  the  training  camp  which  was  held  in  July, 
1916,  at  Monterey.  He  came  out  a  firm  believer  in 
universal  military  training  as  a  character  builder,  as 
well  as  a  necessity  to  the  continued  existence  of  a  de 
mocracy. 

By  April,  1917,  events  had  so  developed  that  the 
United  States  was  compelled  to  enter  the  war  as  a  mat 
ter  of  self-defense,  and  his  decision  was  made  at  once. 
While  the  majority  of  Americans  believed  that  our 
mere  declaration  of  war  would  convince  the  Huns  of 
the  hopelessness  of  victory  and  lead  them  to  patch  up 
a  truce,  he  thought  and  said  that  many  of  her  young 
men  must  be  sacrificed  before  the  world  could  have 
real  peace. 

The  following  quotation  from  a  letter  written  to  his 
wife  by  Colonel  Benjamin  H.  Dibblee,  who  was  man 
ager  of  the  Rollins  office,  well  states  his  position : 

Of  all  the  men  I  knew  who  have  entered  the  Service,  I  believe  he 
was  quicker  to  make  the  great  decision,  and  that  he  saw  his  duty  more 
clearly  from  the  outset  than  any  other.  With  him  there  was  absolutely 
no  hesitation. 

I  remember  only  too  well  the  first  and  only  talk  I  had  with  Lau 
rence  about  entering  the  Service.  At  the  time  when  others  were  hesi 
tating  and  wondering  whether  we  would  enter  thefrst  Training  Camp 
or  wait,  he  came  into  my  office  one  day  and  said  he  wanted  to  go.  .  .  . 
I  said  I  did  not  think  married  men  were  needed  then,  but  he  replied 
that  he  felt  every  able-bodied  man  of  his  age  was  needed  and  that  he 
would  never  be  satisfied  to  live  if  he  did  not  go  —  that  he  would  rather 
be  killed  than  live  the  rest  of  his  life  feeling  he  had  not  done  what  he 


LAURENCE   SOUL&    LYNCH 

considered  his  duty.  His  attitude  was  so  clear,  positive,  and  brave,  that 
he  was  an  inspiration  to  me.  That  talk  and  his  noble  death  will  for 
ever  place  him  at  the  top  of  my  personal  honor-roll. 

It  is  to  him  who  takes  the  lead  and  gives  his  life  by  so  doing  that 
the  greatest  honor  is  due,  and  your  husband  did  take  the  lead—  God 
bless  him. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  first  Officers'  Training  Camp 
at  the  Presidio  of  San  Francisco,  and  took  up  the  hard 
work  and  concentrated  study  with  all  his  energy.  In 
spite  of  the  years  which  had  elapsed  since  he  left  the 
university,  he  greatly  enjoyed  the  training,  and  re 
ceived,  at  the  end  of  the  course,  a  commission  as  Sec 
ond  Lieutenant.  He  had  chosen  the  Infantry,  because 
"The  Infantry  is  the  Army."  He  put  aside  all  sugges 
tions  as  to  staff  positions,  or  to  non-combatant  lines, 
as  beneath  the  notice  of  a  man  who  was  young  enough 
and  strong  enough  to  fight. 

In  August,  1917,  he  was  ordered  to  Camp  Lewis 
where,  with  Elam,  Robinson,  Waybur,  Bradbury, 
Spalding,  Evans,  Baker,  and  other  gallant  boys  from 
around  the  Bay,  the  work  of  training  the  new  Army 
was  begun.  There  were  plenty  of  officers  at  first,  but  no 
non-coms.,  and  the  Lieutenants  took  up  the  squad  drill. 
This  task  brought  him  close  to  the  enlisted  men,  and 
he  learned  the  great  lesson  that  what  men  want  is  not 
special  favors  so  much  as  fair  and  impartial  treatment 
and  the  knowledge  that  the  officers  are  looking  out  for 
them.  That  he  made  this  lesson  practical  is  evidenced 
by  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  to  his  mother: 


LAURENCE    SOULS    LYNCH 

/  work  my  men  hard— perhaps  harder  than  most  of  the  others  — 
but  I  give  them  definite  rests  and  let  them  know  how  long  the  rest 
will  be.  When  I  have  a  lecture  scheduled  to  give  them,  I  find  a  good 
place  under  a  tree  to  sit  down.  When  it  is  time  to  go  in,  I  work  down 
toward  the  edge  of  the  parade  grounds,  so  my  squad  is  nearly  always 
first  back  to  the  barracks.  Thus  they  get  first  at  the  washhouse,  and, 
therefore,  first  in  line  to  mess.  I  make  them  get  out  on  the  dot,  and 
we  are  generally  started  before  the  others.  After  a  time,  men  see  that 
they  are  being  looked  after  —  not  that  they  have  an  easier  time,  but 
that  their  comfort  is  first  in  their  officers'  command. 

During  the  ten  months  spent  in  Camp  Lewis,  he 
helped  drill  practically  three  companies,  for  twice  the 
best  part  of  "G"  Company  was  drafted  into  other  units. 

Toward  the  end  of  1 9 1 7,  he  took  a  detachment  of 
casuals  to  Washington,  and,  on  his  return,  received  his 
commission  as  First  Lieutenant,  for  which  he  had  been 
recommended  originally  at  the  training  camp. 

For  some  months,  as  ranking  First  Lieutenant,  he 
commanded  the  Company  (the  Captain  being  on  de 
tached  service).  He  was  still  in  command  when  his 
men  (about  one-third  of  whom  were  then  raw  recruits) 
entrained  for  service  abroad,  and  he  maintained  com 
mand  until  ordered  to  the  front  for  action. 

On  June  24th,  1918,  his  Company  left  Camp  Lewis, 
and  the  long  trip— across  the  continent,  over  the  ocean, 
through  England  to  France— was  accomplished  with 
out  misadventure.  "G"  Company  was  billeted  at  Bon- 
necourt,  in  the  Haute  Marne,  and  settled  down  to 
intensive  training.  The  life  of  the  little  commune,  its 
inhabitants  (tillers  of  the  soil)  who  went  far  afield  to 


LAURENCE    SOULfi    LYNCH 

their  work;  the  intimate  personal  relations  between 
the  peasants  and  the  cows;  the  good  man  who  came 
home  en  -permission  to  harvest  the  wheat  and  went  back 
to  the  trenches  for  a  rest;  the  old  grandmother  who 
thought  him  a  "scream"  and  cackled  shrilly  over  his 
French;  the  mother  of  the  family  who  mended  his 
clothes  and  wished  to  shine  his  shoes;  the  children, 
particularly  the  little  girls— all  were  sources  of  joy  to 
him. 

A  little  over  six  weeks  closed  this  stage  (during 
which  he  wrote:  "This  is  a  very  pleasant  war").  On 
September  15th,  the  Division  started  for  the  front. 
Letters  had  to  be  very  carefully  worded  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  Board  of  Censors,  and  there  is 
much  that  cannot  now  be  known,  but  the  following  in 
cidents  serve  to  bring  him  up  to  the  line  of  battle: 

Sept.  i $ :  We  moved  out  and  came  north  through  some  beautiful 
parts  of  France.  I  had  a  seat  on  a  Packard  truck.  At  our  destination 
(no  lights  being  permitted  as  we  were  nearer  the  front),  I  was  given 
a  dossier,  a  truck,  and  a  map,  and  told  to  go  to  a  nearby  town  and  billet 
my  regiment.  Arrived  at  II  p.  m.,  woke  the  maire;  billeted  the  men, 
the  regiment  arriving  at  6  p.  m.  next  day.  On  our  next  march,  we 

started  at  nine  at  night  and  arrived  at  a  wood  near  V about 

3  a.m.,  having  gone  14.  kilometers.  George  Wong  Sing,  my  striker,  gave 
out,  and  I  carried  his  pack  in  addition  to  my  small  pack,  so  was  tired. 
We  had  lOO^o  record  for  no  fall-outs,  which  no  other  Company 
had.  .  .  .  We  learned  we  were  in  reserve  for  a  large  offensive.  The 
men  were  pleased  at  the  thought  of  getting  into  it,  and  did  not  mind 
the  incessant  rain  and  fast  accumulating  mud.  .  .  .  We  heard  guns  till 
the  infantry  got  so  well  advanced  firing  had  to  stop.  Airplanes  by  the 
hundred.  Shrapnel  shooting  at  them  beyond  the  hills.  .  .  .  We  left 

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LAURENCE    SOULE    LYNCH 

the  wood  to  ambush,  supposedly  to  go  into  the  line.  An  orderly  came 
for  me— I  was  made  billeting  officer,  and  as  such  arrived  alone  at  next 
stop,  about  midnight,  woke  the  French  Major  de  Cantonment  there, 
told  him  I  would  be  back;  went  on  to  town  beyond,  woke  some  officials 
there,  and,  without  an  interpreter,  arranged  for  billeting  our  jrd  Bat 
talion,  my  own  regiment,  and  one  M.  G.  Battalion.  Learned  that  large 
offensive  was  so  successful  reserves  were  not  needed*  .  .  .  We  are 
again  in  reserve  in  a  different  part  of  the  line.  Tomorrow  I  billet 
2OO  horses  and  arrange  baths  for  some  poo  men.  This  is  a  great  war 
so  far.  I  enjoy  it  very  much. 

Sept.  21:  Regiment  left  one  night  at  dark  and  went  18  miles  be 
fore  dawn  — a  terrible  hike;  many  men  fell  out.  .  .  .  I  finished  the 
paper  work  for  billeting,  had  the  salvage  assembled  and  listed,  and 
that  night  late  got  one  of  a  three-truck  train  out  to  join  the  regiment. 
Truck  drivers  are  always  nearly  dead  for  lack  of  sleep,  so  mine,  who 
had  no  assistant,  was  glad  to  have  me  drive  for  him.  It  was  a  very 
interesting  night.  Lots  of  traffic  —  men  heavily  laden,  marching  slowly 
and  sitting  down  in  place  when  they  halted.  Lots  of  motor  traffic  — 
long  wagon  trains.  Many  small  French  towns  where  the  turnings  might 
be  missed.  I  turned  in  my  billet  and  salvage  papers  at  3  a.m.,  had  my 
first  meal  in  24  hours,  and  slept  on  the  floor  of  a  house  deserted  since 
1914.  After  a  day  in  that  town,  we  left  and  had  an  easy  walk  to  a 
bois ;  the  next  night,  an  easy  walk  to  the  wood  where  we  now  are  — 
my  Battalion  about  600  or  800  yards  behind  the  lines,  with  the  first 
Battalion  up.  We  are  well  in  artillery  range,  but  are  quite  safe,  as 
the  Boche  does  not  know  of  our  presence,  due  to  much  moving  at  night. 
This  morning  we  had  a  warm  breakfast  cooked  before  dawn,  by  a  cam 
ouflaged  fire,  and  each  day  while,  we  are  here  we  shall  have  one  warm 
meal.  This  is  a  quiet  secJor  —  now. 

Sept.  24:  The  big  show  begins  tomorrow.    I  would  not  miss  it  for 

worlds. 

*  This  evidently  refers  to  the  St.  Mihiel  drive. 


LAURENCE    SOULfi    LYNCH 

The  9ist  Division,  young,  strong,  full  of  determina 
tion,  was  one  of  those  selected  to  clean  the  Huns  out 
of  the  region  known  as  the  Argonne  Forest,  where, 
after  three  years  of  occupancy,  they  had  settled  down 
to  a  comfortable  existence.  Well-built  shacks,  poultry 
yards,  vegetable  gardens,  concrete-lined  trenches,  all 
indicated  that  they  felt  at  home.  Machine  guns  clev 
erly  concealed,  sniper-stations  in  the  trees,  hidden  ar 
tillery,  made  the  country  almost  impregnable;  yet  the 
Commanding  General  said  of  the  9  Ist:  "At  a  time 
when  the  divisions  on  its  flanks  were  faltering  and  even 
falling  back,  the  9  Ist  Division  pushed  ahead  and  stead 
fastly  clung  to  every  yard  gained/* 

The  losses  were  necessarily  heavy— sixty -five  per 
cent  casualties  is  the  general  estimate  of  those  officers 
who  have  written  home.  The  loss  among  the  officers 
was  even  greater. 

The  Argonne-Meuse  offensive  was  launched  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  September  26th,  by  prelim 
inary  artillery  preparation,  the  Infantry  going  over  at 
5:30—  just  at  daybreak.  The  91"  was  a  front-line  com 
bat  division.  It  advanced  that  day  about  nine  or  ten 
kilometers,  to  a  ridge  near  the  villages  of  Eclisfontaine 
and  Epinonville.  Evening  of  the  26thfound  "G"  Com 
pany  in  a  defensive  line  formed  by  its  Regiment  against 
counter  attack,  where  it  lay  all  night  in  a  pouring  rain. 
At  dawn  of  the  2yth,it  plunged  into  the  Hun-infested 
woods  near  Epinonville.  Later  in  the  day,  while  lead 
ing  his  platoon  through  an  orchard,  Lieutenant  Lynch 

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LAURENCE    SOULfi    LYNCH 

met  severe  opposition  from  machine-gun  fire,  and  sent 
back  for  a  one-pounder  to  silence  the  nests,  before  ex 
posing  his  men.  He  stood  for  a  few  moments  looking 
through  his  field-glasses  toward  the  concealing  thickets 
on  the  other  side,  when  he  was  shot  high  in  the  right 
breast  by  a  bullet  from  a  sniper's  rifle. 

He  was  carried  out  of  the  wood  by  his  men,  after  first 
aid  had  been  administered,  for  which  he  himself  di 
rected  the  arrangements.  Although  the  wound  was 
serious,  his  recovery  was  at  first  thought  probable.  He 
was  moved  to  the  evacuation  hospital  at  Froidos, 
where,  in  spite  of  surgical  skill,  he  died  on  October 
8th.  He  is  buried  in  the  cemetery  there,  on  a  little  hill 
overlooking  the  Argonne. 

The  following  expressions  are  from  letters  written 
by  his  brother  officers: 

//  is  a  terrible  thing  that  such  a  sterling  man  should  have  to  be 
sacrificed,  but  you  can  always  be  proud  of  the  memory  of  a  man  who 
followed  his  conscience  and  did  not  take  the  easy  path  which  was  opened 
to  him. 

I  was  not  far  from  him  at  the  time  he  was  hit,  and  I  assure  you  his 
name  will  always  remain  in  the  memories  of  his  comrades  as  a  daring , 
conscientious  leader ,  paying  the  supreme  sacrifice  rather  than  taking  a 
course  which  could  have  been  easily  pursued  without  criticism,  but 
which  would  not  have  satisfied  his  conscience. 

He  fought  well  and  bravely  in  the  face  of  as  bitter  an  enemy  as  ever 
men  faced,  and  his  men  loved  him  and  followed  him. 

His  spirit  was  the  type  of  America* s  best  response  to  the  great  task 
she  faced \  and  I  shall  always  be  glad  and  proud  to  have  known  him  — 


LAURENCE    SOULfi    LYNCH 

not  only  for  his  fine  loyalty,  but  for  his  eager  and  responsive  person 
ality.  He  felt  the  call  of  his  Country  keenly  and  obeyed  it  splendidly. 

A  Canadian  Baptist  clergyman  who  declined  a  chap 
laincy  to  carry  a  rifle  with  his  men,  was  being  commis 
erated  on  the  loss  of  a  leg.  "I  did  not  lose  the  leg," 
he  said;  "I  traded  it  for  a  clear  conscience." 

Laurence  Soule  Lynch  gave  his  life  for  a  clear  con 
science.  He  went  to  his  end  with  a  light  heart  and  a 
joyous  spirit,  a  "gentleman  unafraid." 


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